The Monitor. [volume] (Woodstown, N.J.) 1884-1892, 1887-12-02

over Win SODS.
"Why, Tessy! what's the matter?
Stop cryin', dear; now stopr'
And by way of helping her to obey, the
mother lifted the small girl into her lap,
and gently pulling away the check apron
took a corner of it to wipe off the tears
that ran like the drip Of a summer rain out
of Tessy's blue, sweet eyes
Mrs. Turner was not given to kissing, or
caressing Of any kind, she only stroked the
fair hair with her rough hand, and held
her baby closer to her bosom with the
other; but the close pressure, and the dear
motherly face bent over her meant
mother to Tessy in all the fullness of
that blessed word. She began to grow
calmer, to swallow the lump in her throat,
to wink away the slower falling tears, and
in two minutes managed to say brokenly:
ooh, muvver! My skosh dolly's all
b'eaked to pieces. Bose jumped up when
| tame in, an tumbulled me down, an
dolly vented over on the 'teps and
b'eaked, an! am! oh dee. dee! My dolly's
beaded all upn'
Again the tears and sobs got the mas
terry Mrs. Turner's heart ached for her
own dolly, who was SO bereaved in the I'M
timely end of the 'tskosh" doll. The Tur-
ners were poor farmers in the hill country
of New England, barely living on the pro-
duce of their few acres Most of the but
ter and eggs, all the spring chickens and
fatted turkeys, went to the store" in the
next village, and were there bartered for
clothing and few groceries, Tessy was
the only living child. Two or three had
come and gone before her, victims to a
damp cellar, no sink drain, scant and poor
food, and Initiated air in the house where
every crack was puttied or papered over
or stuffed with rags, all the long winter,
in order to keep out the bitterness of the
cold.
When Tessy was born the old doctor
who had dosed her brothers and sisters
with various ancient sorts of medicine,
was on his death bed, and his spruce
young successor insisted on flannel, milk,
and fresh air for the baby; so she grew up
into tolerably hardy and very happy
child, the idol of that household, who re-
garded her with as much fear as love,
dreading lest she too should go like her
brothers and sisters. But she lived and
laughed, and made joyful slaves of her pa
tient mother and her grim hard orking
father. She had no toys, but made her
self "play- house in the rocks on the
hill side by the side-door of her home, gay
with bits of blue and yellow crockery,
fragments of glass, bits of red calico, and
bright blue Cricket" as they called
foot-stools in that day, on which she sat
and surveyed her possessions, sang to her
doll, and administered catnip tea in
clamshel to the black and-yellow kitten
that divided her affections with her veget-
able baby. For Tessy's doll was neither
more nor less than long-necked squash,
dressed in some of her old aby-clothes;
its eyes were long cuts in the top of the
neck--indeed, the whole face was rudely
outlined in the same way-but Tessy, like
the Warehouses, made believe good
deal, and loved the awkward creature
she tended, and rocked, and tucked up in
bed every night in the corner of the
kitchen settle, just as much as if it had
been wax lady from Paris, with a gor-
geous wardrobe in real trunk.
Mrs. Turner did not really think the
child could be so fond of her squash; she
longed to buy Tessy doll from city shop,
that should have an aspect of humanity,
and be good thing to dress and undress,
and pleasure to the child for all her child
life; but Mrs. Turner had no money to
spare for trihes; however, she had given
Tessy white chicken when the little girl
was three years old, and as soon as it began
to lay, the price of every egg was laid
aside for Tessey's doll. 1t was February
now, and the pnllet's second season of use
fulness was just beginning; the squashes
were all gone except few round green Hub
bards, but Mrs. Turner counted on enough
eggs of the white hen to sell before May, to
increase the sum she had already SO much
that she could buy the long desired doll.
With this hope she comforted Tessy, and
held before the child's Frightening eyes,
gorgeous vision of real dolly with arms
and legs and rosy face. So Tessey
Rugged her kitten oftener than ever, and
dreamed her day dreams of the coming
treasure, like older and wiser people.
Now, while Tessy was crying and being
comforted, Enoch Turner was wrangling
out in the home-lot with 'Bijah Persons
who owned the next farm. 'Bijah was the
nearest man in Dalton, as everybody
caid stingy even to his wife, though he
had great farm, and every year sold so
much corn, and hay, and wood, and apples,
that he laid up money in the bank. But
he half starved both Mrs. Persons and the
hired man, and disputed every cent that
was spent in the house, as if he had been
the poorest beggar.
He was very angry now with Enoch
Turner because he had not built his part of
of the home-lot fence as high as the part
which was his own building.
You'd ought to ha' made it horse-high
an bull strong" he shouted; for being
deal himself he roared at everybody else.
"iTain't nuther now; and I'll have il so